Rank
|
Entity
|
Date/Status of recognition
|
Notes
|
1 |
France[7] |
Recognised on 21 November 2011 (as legitimate interlocutor), on 13 November 2012 (as sole legitimate representative)[13] |
"The Syrian National Council is the legitimate interlocutor with which we will continue to work," French foreign minister Alain Juppe stated on 21 November 2011.
|
2 |
Spain[14][15] |
Recognised on 23 November 2011 (as representative of Syrian people) |
Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jiménez confirmed that the Spanish government will look to SNC to discuss issues concerning Syria and that the channels of dialogue with the Syrian government have been closed. Jiménez said "Spain support for the SNC as the main interlocutor of the Syrian people, who are seeking freedom and democracy".
|
3 |
United States[16] |
Recognised on 5 December 2011 (as legitimate representative) |
The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, deemed the Syrian National Council as a “leading and legitimate representative of Syrians seeking a peaceful democratic transition,” and that the United States was “committed to helping... make this transition.”[17]
|
4 |
United Kingdom[18] |
Recognised on 24 February 2012 (As legitimate representative) |
Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt met SNC members in Paris on 12 October 2011. Burt stated, “The establishment of the Syrian National Council marked a positive step in bringing together a broad range of Syrian opposition representatives."[19] The following month, Foreign Secretary William Hague met with representatives of the SNC and National Coordination Body on 21 November. Speaking about the meeting, Hague remarked, “We will continue our contacts with the Syrian opposition. I’ve appointed a senior official to lead our liaison and coordination with them... The message for the regime is that the rest of the world is talking to the Syrian opposition, that we are looking to a different future for Syria, for the Syrian people to decide for themselves what, what we want is what so many people in Syria want, a free and democratic future for the people of Syria. And I think the Assad regime will find that more and more Governments around the world are willing to work with the opposition to step up the level of their contacts as we have done today as part of the increasing pressure on this regime and its completely unacceptable behaviour.” After a meeting with the Friends of Syria in Tunis, William Hague said the UK will recognise the Syrian National Council as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people[20]
|
5 |
Albania[21] |
Recognised on 1 April 2012 (as representative of Syrian people) |
During the meeting on 1 April 2012 Friends of Syria in Istanbul the Minister of foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania, Edmond Haxhinasto underlined the support of the Albanian Government for the Syrian democratic opposition represented by the Syrian National Council, as well as its war for freedom, human dignity and progress.[21]
|
6 |
Denmark[22] |
Recognised on 9 December 2012 (as legitimate representative)
|
7 |
Turkey[12] |
Rejection of Assad government[12] Formal relations from 14 December 2011[23] Verbal Support |
On 15 November 2011, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Prime Minister of Turkey, has expressed his support for the Syrian National Council, saying that "Turkey had lost confidence in the leadership of Bashar al-Assad" and that "the Syrian leader will pay the price sooner or later".[12] On 14 December 2011, SNC opened its first office in Istanbul.[23]Erdoğan has been trying to "cultivate a favorable relationship with whatever government would take the place of Assad."[24]
|
8 |
Italy |
Informal relations[25][26] Verbal support Rejection of Assad government |
On 25 November Italian Foreign Minister, Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata reiterated Italy's support to "organised opposition" in the shape of SNC.[25] On 11 December, Terzi met SNC's president Burhan Ghalioun and said Italy would intensify its contacts with SNC which grouped "an important segment" of the Syrian opposition.
|
9 |
Bulgaria[27] |
Verbal support Rejection of Assad government Informal relations |
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov announced that the Syrian National Council "is an important partner in dialogue on the future of Syria".
|
10 |
Canada[28] |
Rejection of Assad government Informal relations |
Foreign Minister John Baird, in a 16 December speech in the House of Commons stated, ""Assad will fall. The government will fall. It's only a matter of time". Later that day, Baird met with a Syrian National Council delegation led by Council President Burhan Ghalioun. The council expressed its gratitude for Canada's assistance to the SNC, including international lobbying for new UN Security Council resolutions and its rejection of the Assad government. Discussions were held on Canada's participation in humanitarian assistance during a transitional period and in the rebuilding of a post-Assad Syria.[29]
|
11 |
Netherlands |
Verbal support Rejection of Assad government Informal relations |
The Syrian National Council is being openly, verbally supported by the Netherlands. In March 2012, the Dutch foreign minister, Rosenthal, had a meeting in the Netherlands with representatives of the Syrian National Council, emphasised that President Assad should step down and that the Syrian opposition should unite.[30]
|
12 |
Germany |
Verbal support Rejection of Assad government Informal relations |
In a 6 August 2011 interview, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle remarked that "I don't believe that Assad has a political future ahead of him which is supported by the Syrian people". The German foreign ministry is reportedly in talks with the Syrian opposition.[31] In November 2011, a Syrian National Council delegation met with Westerwelle and other high level foreign policy decision makers to brief them on developments in Syria. Westerwelle said "we cannot remain quiet to the human rights violations in Syria.” He then lauded the efforts of the National Council and discussed future cooperation with the SNC regarding the transition phase to democracy.[32]
|
13 |
Belgium[33] |
Verbal support Informal relations |
A group of Belgian Foreign Ministry officials, headed by Foreign Minister Didier Reynders met with a delegation of the Syrian National Council on 5 January 2012. At the meeting, Reynders informed the delegates that he would to refer the SNC requests for the establishment of a European assistance fund for the Syrian people to the European Union and would work to "support the SNC's goals until they become a reality on the ground."
|
14 |
Qatar[34] |
Rejection of Assad government |
The UK newspaper, The Times reported that Qatar and Saudi Arabia are to begin funding the Syrian National Council and other armed groups fighting the Assad government. Prime Minister and foreign minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani visited the United Nations to formally present UN Security Council Ambassadors with a plan for Assad to step down and relinquish power to his vice-president in lieu of a transitional unity government. Speaking at a 10 March 2010 Arab ministerial meeting, Hamad advised the opposition to unify in order to "merge into one voice that expresses the aspirations of their people so that they can face the tyranny of the regime." Additionally, he called for recognition of the SNC as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in his opening remarks.[35]
|
15 |
Australia |
Informal relations Rejection of Assad government |
On 20 January 2012, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd publicly rejected the Assad government in a joint press conference with French foreign Minister Alan Juppe. "Our view in Australia is that Assad must go."[36] On 24 January, Rudd met with UK foreign minister William Hague and announced that he had met with Burhan Ghalioun, the president of the SNC, in the previous week.[37]
|
16 |
Portugal[38] |
Informal relations |
A Syrian National Council delegation, headed by Burhan Ghalioun, met on 3 January 2012 with Foreign Minister Paulo Portas in Lisbon. After a briefing on the current situation in Syria, Portas was requested by the delegation to formally reject the Assad government and to use Portugal's influence with Brazil to get the South American country to do the same.
|
17 |
Norway[39] |
Informal relations |
A Syrian National Council delegation visited Oslo and met with foreign ministry officials, along with political and humanitarian groups, to promote its cause from 9–11 December 2012. The council delegation met with the foreign minister, whom had a reaction to their requests that the delegation reported as "generally positive."
|
18 |
Russia[40] |
Informal relations |
The Syrian National Council sent a delegation to Moscow to meet with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on 15 November 2011 in response to an official invitation. While in Moscow, the council met with high level Russian government officials, notably the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Mikhail Bogdanov; and the Vice Chairman of the Russian Federation, Ilyas Umakhanov.
|
19 |
China[41] |
Informal relations |
A high-level SNC delegation visited Beijing on 10 May 2012 and met with the Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, the Deputy Foreign Minister and the Director of External Communication for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. According to the SNC, Yang promised to "look into" issuing a permit for the SNC to open an official office in China.
|
20 |
Japan[42] |
Informal relations |
On 11 May 2012, a SNC Delegation visited the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and SNC President Burhan Ghalioun held discussions with Foreign Mninister Koichiro Gemba. Later, Ghalioun met with Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Ryuji Yamane and former UN Under Secretary General Yasushi Akashi.[43]
|
21 |
Sweden[44] |
Verbal support Informal relations |
Asked about recognising SNC, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt commented: "We are talking to them, as we are talking to a lot of other people who have the ability to influence events in Syria. We will be discussing that further today."
|
22
|
Slovenia[45]
|
Formal recognition in January 2013
|
Ambassador of the government of Syria was declared persona non-grata, and the SNC was declared the sole representative of the Syrian state.
|